A man alleged to be mentally ill stabbed eight children to death and injured five others on March 23 in Nanping, Fujian. He was a doctor who had lost his job and was experiencing difficulty finding a girlfriend. He shouted at the children as he killed them saying ‘you won’t let me live’. He has since been given the death sentence. The case is causing great concern in China as it highlights the gap in provision of mental health services. Currently only a few prosperous provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong have drafted regional regulations on mental health. Patients largely depend on families for help financially and psychologically. At a time of rapid change (8% GDP growth), huge urbanisation (by 2025 China’s urban population is expected to rise to 926 million from 572 million in 2005) and extreme capitalism (men are judged by their net worth by women) this case highlights a difficult situation.
Takeaway
- In a country with little social security safety net CEO’s often find themselves taking care of employees’ families when they need cancer treatment etc. as they are the only wealthy person the employee knows; wage differentials are vast. Take a paternal role with stressed employees and they will be more loyal to your company. Charity begins in your company.
- If you make someone redundant you should do so as compassionately as possible and you should try to use your connections to find them a new job. With little social security safety net and expensive health and education systems, people can become very desperate when they lose their job in China. Adapt to developing country expectations of an employer.
